What the new iMac looks like (basically the same as before)

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Oh, look what just arrived in the office, if it isn’t a 27-inch, Spring 2011 iMac packing all sorts of Sandy Bridge goodness. It’s even the high-end model, with the 3.1GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB RAM, 1TB of storage, AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics, FaceTime HD, and, of course, the 2560×1440 display. This model starts at $1999 (the 27-inch iMac starts at $1699 with the 2.7GHz CPU), so you are definitely paying for all that updated gear.

This post would have been a lot more exciting if something significant had been changed on the outside of the iMac, but that wasn’t the case. The only change of note, the use of Thunderbolt ports on the back, can be seen above. They are the two electric-looking icons to the right of the port lineup. They look like mini DisplayPorts because they use the same connector.

Those Thunderbolt ports also make up a notable difference between the 27-inch iMac and its smaller, 21.5-inch brother: the large models has two while the smaller has just one. Since Thunderbolt has very few uses right now this isn’t too big of a deal, but if you’ll be driving display or attaching storage (and you don’t want to daisychain components) an extra port could come in handy one day.

In case you hadn’t heard, the new iMacs include either the Magic Trackpad or Magic Mouse with a purchase. If you want both you’ll have to spend an extra $69… in other words, the full retail price. Our unit had the Magic Mouse.

That’s is for now, because the new iMac looks just like the old one. Once some reviews appear (probably very soon) we’ll be able to see just how effective the new processor and graphics card are. If it’s anything like the other computers that moved to Sandy Bridge the performance bump should be considerable.